The Metro
by Nat1
Summary: Max's in Heat, Alec's on the phone and Cindy's unconscious in a bank vault. Its a friendshippy thing.


_Author – Nat_

_Rating – R_

_Spoilers – Everything up to Freak Nation and my made up DA world after that._

_Pairing – Max/Alec, probably more friendship than anything. _

_Summary – My 'lil heat fic, but not smut. Maybe one day I'll get around to smut. _

_Standard disclaimer applies.****_

_A/N – I don't remember where the inspiration for this hit. I think I was watching a doco on panthers or something. I've rewritten the end about 7 times and I still don't particularly like it, but its an improvement (doesn't that tell you how crap it was?) Anyways, hope you enjoy it!_

_A/N – I'm Australian. My word is set to Australian spelling… just so you know._

_Also, feedback is nice, but I don't feed off reviews. I write when inspiration hits._

_Dedication – Heres to Hilz, the greatest beta a girl could ask for (I promise next time I'll spell check first!) Also, heres to Jewel & Scar who read it and said it was ok. (Even with the nasty MW boxers you gals are cute)_

**The Metro**

*

"Do you know how much I'll hurt her, and how much she'll like it?" Alec sneered at Logan.

"You're her friend Alec, it wont hurt her as much as it will if it's a stranger. And with the number of X5's running around here its more than a possibility!"

"I didn't mean it in an emotional sense, I meant physically. I haven't even gotten to the emotional side of things yet."

Logan had flinched when he realised what Alec had been saying about how it would _hurt_. He wasn't a virgin, but in the circles he had mixed in all his life most of the women he'd had in his bed were more ladylike than not. Not prissy or frigid, but he guessed the word was… shy. They didn't speak up about what they really liked in bed other than to say harder or faster occasionally. He had always imagined that Max would be the same, but Alec was pointing out the flaws in his fantasies. 

"You see, us X5's with dominant cat DNA, we get that from a big cat, lion, tiger, panther. Did you ever watch the National Geographic documentaries back before the pulse? The ones about the big cats? Did you ever see them mating? The claws? The teeth? The pure physical act of it? There's no gentle caresses, no laughter, no emotion about it… It's rough and hard and fast. It looks like it hurts, and it does. But the human DNA in us gets pleasure from it, otherwise what would be the point? We like the claws and teeth, the physicality of it." Alec stared hard into Logan's face watching with satisfaction as the skin around his eyes tightened in pain and sadness. "You know we also have other animalistic DNA mixing it up in us. So while most of the feline DNA we have in us doesn't necessarily mate for life and doesn't always travel in packs, the canine element in us does and so do the various other animals we have in our blood. Heat forms a bond, whether we want it or not."

Alec flopped down in a seat in Logan's new apartment in down town Seattle, a few blocks west of Terminal City. He was still watching Logan who was standing looking out of the window as the spring storms blew heavy rain against the glass. "Why are you asking me for this Logan? The virus is cured, you can touch her, so why ask me?"

"We're not together like that anymore."

"And we were _never_ like that!"

"She called me this morning, saying how she couldn't come to dinner tonight, how she couldn't risk leaving her apartment. She's been in heat before and knows she can wait it out if she doesn't go near any males. But Cindy had brought up the fact that Max has about 15 visitors a day on average, tramping in and out of their place. So they were leaving before it was too late. Cindy was going along to help keep her company while they hid out somewhere in the ninth Sector. But Max realised that no matter where she went some X5 was going to smell her and it wouldn't matter anyways-"

"You're babbling. Just get to the point already."

"Okay, alright." Logan took a deep breath. "I had the thought that if she could choose who she slept with in her heat it might make it a little easier on her, for all involved."

"And so you're volunteering me for the mission?" Alec was angry, angry that Logan would presume to think that –

"No! I asked Max who she trusted, which X5 she trusted enough to-"

"Fuck?" Alec butted in.

Logan glared at Alec. "Trusted enough to look out for her when she was in this state."

"Do you understand that even if I wanted anything to do with this, I wouldn't be in any state to watch out for her while she was in heat near me?"

"I _know_. She said she'd trust you at her back anytime and then she explained that it wouldn't matter in this case because heat was unreasoning, it wiped your brain pretty much clear of everything other than the lust. The need becomes overpowering." 

Alec nodded. "Then if you know this, why are you asking me to go to her now?"

Logan looked Alec directly in his eyes. "Because Max… She cuts herself off, she pulls away from everyone, even when she knows she doesn't need too. We're all her friends and we all love her. Still she pulls back. And I don't just mean from me. I think the only person she lets in is Joshua."

"That's Manticore for you."

"She hasn't been Manticore for a long time now."

"She's never been anything _but_ Manticore."

Alec and Logan looked at each other over the coffee table between them. "She needs a friend right now Alec."

"A friend wouldn't go near her right now. Not a male one, and anyway, she has Original Cindy."

"Please Alec."

"You're asking for too much for someone who doesn't even have a say in this. If she had wanted me there she'd have asked me. But she didn't and I wont do that to her. Or to me."

With that, Alec stood and walked quietly out of the apartment, closing the door softly behind him. He got down to the street and pulled his collar up around his ears as he walked in the direction of Terminal City, barely making it a block before he had his cell phone to his out and was dialling Max.

"Hello?" He could hear the purr in her voice already.

"Max, you doing okay?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I?"

"I was just at Logan's."

"Oh. What did he tell you?"

"That you were in heat, and that I should come to you. As a _friend_." He twisted the last bit off his tongue with a sour face.

"He _what_?" Max's voice was high pitched and shocked. "I explained that it couldn't lead to anything good!"

"Oh, it could Maxie, but only for awhile, it wouldn't be good after it was great." Alec grinned into the phone.

There was a pause and then a soft sigh. "Alec… Please, don't, don't talk like that."

He swallowed his grin hard as the images that had run through her head ran through his. "Right, sorry, wasn't thinking."

"But you are now."

"Yeah." There was a short silence and Alec took the time to swap hands. "So you got all the windows closed and door jambs stuffed with towels?"

"Yeah. I'm going all out here. Never had a heat before with a few hundred Transgenic's running around that could smell me. I've got incense burning and I'm still doing the cold shower thing, just more regularly than normal."

"Sounds like you've got most of the bases covered."

"Yeah, I do a couple of hundred push ups and then I shower as I start to sweat and then I go again. It's a never ending circle." She snorted.

"Listen Max, if you want, I could come over. But I understand if you don't want me there."

She hesitated. "I want you here. But I don't want you here. I want to say this right, so please don't misunderstand. I'm half afraid that I'm gonna end up screwing some guy I've never met before, but then I'm also scared that I'd end up fucking you. You're gorgeous and desirable, you're my friend. And that's probably the biggest problem. Cause this would change everything, and I like having you as a friend. It's easy and its comfortable and it fits."

Alec listened carefully as she took a deep breath, denying his instincts as he made snap judgment on each and everything she said, making himself wait until she'd finished.

"You understand me, you know me, and I think I know you. I think we'd fuck with all the knowledge of each other, and it would be so good that nothing could compare. And all I can think about right now is how I'd taste in your mouth, and now all I can think off is how you'd taste. And you know what? I know you'd taste good, salty and bitter and creamy. I can feel how your cum would coat the back of my throat."

Alec adjusted himself in his pants as Max let out a shuddering moan.

"I gotta take a shower!"

The phone rattled as she dropped it and Alec swallowed a groan at the thought of Max's lips wrapped around him. It wasn't a new thought to him, whenever he looked at her lips he thought the same thing, how could he not with lips like hers? He snapped back to reality when Original Cindy picked up the phone.

"What did you say to my girl, Boo?"

"Nothing! I sware it was all her fertile imagination. Very fertile." He swallowed hard again.

"Hunh. I think probably you should get off the phone before my girl gets out of the shower. Not that I don't want to talk to you, just that girlfriend don't have the willpower to resist your manly charms tonight Boo."

"Yeah, alright. Just don't let her out of the, whatever you're in. And make sure she keeps the windows and doors closed, no matter how hot she gets."

"It's colder than a catholic nun in here, and she still feels like its middle of summer in Mexico."

"Just make sure she doesn't let any air in or out. Even the slightest smell of heat hormones are enough to drive most feline X's out of their minds."

"She knows Boo, she nailed all the windows shut and barred the doors."

"It won't matter. Just make sure she keeps em closed. Got something heavy handy? Cause it might come down to you knocking her out." 

"Got a frying pan here."

"That'll do the job. Just make sure you smack her in the head with it as hard as you can. And try not to let her see it coming."

"I got this. You gotta go, the shower just turned off."

"Later Cindy, call me if you need anything."

"Just as long as its me and not miss kitty here."

Alec grinned and disconnected.

Two hours later Alec was in his apartment in TC drifting of to sleep while watching a documentary on panthers on TV. Something he thought incredibly ironic when he thought about how his evening had been going so far. The phone startled him out of his dozing dream of a naked Max sitting sideways on a large prowling black panther.

"Alec?"

"Maxie?" His voice was sleep roughened and he cleared his throat. "Max? What's up?"

"Umm, I'm in a bit of trouble here…" He could hear the banging in the background.

He sat up in his seat fast. "What's happening?" 

"Well, there's someone at the door. And well I kinda knocked Cindy out and I really wanna let this guy in, well I did, but me knocking Cindy out kinda brought me to my senses… Kinda, cause I still really wanna oped the door, but-"

"Where are you Max?" Alec had already stuffed his jacket on and was halfway down the stairs before he even thought to ask where she was. 

"Metro Bank, Little Italy sector 4. Please hurry Alec. I dragged Cindy into the vault and locked it behind us, but there's not much air in here. It's why we didn't come in here to start with. It was the back up plan."

"I'm on my way. Are you in a secure location?"

"It's a bank vault Alec."

"You and I both know they're not infallible Max."

"Okay, sure. I jammed it from the inside here, and best I can judge is there's about an hour of oxygen in here for me and Cindy together."

"That's not much Max." Alec frowned as he stopped off in Mole's armoury and grabbed a few tazer's. 

"Like I said, last resort."

"How did you manage to get into this last resort anyways? I gave Cindy orders to knock you out if anything happened."

"Yeah well, she was swinging at me when I knocked her out… saw it coming and just reacted."

"Why was she gonna knock you out?" Alec was out of TC and on his bike, two checkpoints away from his goal when she responded.

"I accidentally kinda broke a window."

"'Accidentally _kinda_' Max?" Alec's voice rose in disbelief.

"Okay, so I lost it. By the way I can hear four of them out there now. They're not fighting amongst themselves yet. They seem to have banded together trying to open the door." He could hear the smile in her voice, she was waiting for them to get to her. He heard a thump. "Okay, you've got to talk to me, keep me sane cause if I loose it again anytime soon I'm gonna be a party."

"Its okay Max, I'm almost there." Alec had abandoned the bike and was now running flat out, blurring and jumping sector boundaries. "How's Cindy doing?"

He just had to keep her mind off the males outside her door until _he_ got there and he could deal with them.

"She's coming around. I think she'd be fine if I could get some oxygen into her. The air in here is pretty stale." Alec ducked down a side street to avoid a patrol of sector police ahead and by sheer chance found the back of the bank.

"Okay Max, I'm here. I'm gonna put my phone in my pocket now so I can fight the others, I'll call you when its safe to open the door." He paused, waiting for a reply.

"Okay. And Alec…"

"Yeah Max?" Alec's mind was too busy scoping out the layout of the building and weighing up the odds against his opponents to really pay attention to her now. He had to get it worked out in his head before he went inside and lost his mind at the smell of her.

"I'm glad you're here. I wanted you to be here. To be with me. But I didn't want to ask, didn't want to put you into this position. So, I'm sorry." She wasn't really making very much sense, but he understood. 

"Its okay Maxie. I'll be with you soon." He could sense her nodding her head. "I'm hanging up. Keep an eye on Original Cindy."

Alec hung up and jumped to the fire escape. He quickly made his way over to the other side and down to the ground. He hadn't even gotten halfway down before he smelt her. She was lucky because if it hadn't been for the rain dampening the smell, all of the male Transgenic's within a three-block radius would have smelt her. 

He quietly made his way through the building until he found two X5 males fighting and another three trying to get into the small safe door. He blurred and took out the two fighting males with one tazer and another two near the vault door with the second tazer before the last one paid enough attention to realise what was going on. Of course by then it was too late and Alec knocked him unconscious with a flying roundhouse kick to the head. 

He pulled out his phone and dialled Max. He could hear the ringing behind the door before she answered it. "Max, you can open the vault now."

His gaze was steady and anticipatory on the locking mechanism as it slowly started to turn. He threw one last glance at the unconscious X's around him to make sure they really were unconscious and not just waiting for an opportune moment to take him out. His eyes grew heavy with want as the door slowly swung open and his left hand reached over to snatch it open.

He was ready to pounce on her, to knock her to the floor, wall or nearest flat surface and barely held himself back when he saw she was supporting a very pale, very unsteady Cindy around the shoulders as they walked slowly out of the vault. His wits surfaced long enough to wrap his arm around Cindy's other side, but in doing so he touched Max.

And they were both gone.

It was Cindy grabbing them as she started to fall that brought them back to reality. They helped her to the nearest couch without touching one another, barely glancing to make sure she was okay, before their eyes slid to each other clashing with want and need.

"Alec." Max had barely breathed his name before he had attacked, throwing them both to the floor.

*

Original Cindy reached down and pulled Alec's phone out of the pocket of his jacket that had just landed on the back of the lounge she was laying on. She reached in and dialled the number for Jam Pony.

"Normal, I need you to send Sketchy over to the Metro Bank in Little Italy in Sector Four... Don't ask no questions and I wont tell you no lies… Yes, Max is still, uh, _indisposed_ but its Alec's turn to take care of her… She'll be at work tomorrow or the next day… So will Alec… Send him… Well put the fool on the phone… Sketchy, you don't got a sister's back on this?… Uh huh… Well, I've got a pair of purple ones… four inch… yeah… we'll need a car… Thanks Sketch… I'll owe you for this one."

Cindy winced as a particularly loud crash echoed through her head coming from the other inhabitants of the room, well the other _conscious_ inhabitants. She raised her head and slowly sat up, her eyes drawn to the mass of moving flesh that was Max and Alec.

She forcibly dragged her attention away and slowly stood to make her way out of the building. It wouldn't do to have Sketchy see this, wouldn't do for her to see _anymore_. Something like this could damage a lesbians mind, almost making her want to try and drive stick for something different. If the stick drove like _that_ anyways.

*

Alec and Max slowly came to about the same time, both bruised and bleeding. Their bodies ached and their muscles moved with protest.

"So Max… You okay?"

"Fine. You?"

"Fine."

"Right."

"Yeah, so umm, did you see where my pants went?"

Max sat up and curled into herself, looking around, assessing the damage. She pointed, "There, by the door."

"Thanks." Alec slowly got up, stretching like a cat. He walked over to the door, unselfconsciously naked and pulled on his pants. He found Max's clothes and threw them to her and waited, watching her as she hurriedly pulled her pants and top on.

"I guess there's no hope for finding my bra and underwear?"

They both surveyed the mess they had made of the room. There were broken pieces of furniture and other debris scattered around the room.

"No chance." Max shrugged and looked awkwardly at Alec. "So Maxie, you hungry?"

"Yeah." Alec cracked his neck.

"You wanna eat?"

"With you?"

"You see anyone else here offering to buy you dinner?"

"Technically I think it might be classified as breakfast." Max gave a small smile when Alec rolled his eyes.

"C'mon. I'm hungry."

"Okay." Max hesitantly held out her hand. Alec looked at her with raised eyebrows and she shrugged. "Alec after what we did, I hardly think holding my hand should be a problem for you."

"You just want me close so it's easier to hit me next time I say something dumb, huh?"

Max laughed. "Yeah Alec. It surprises me that you actually admit that you say dumb things though, hell, not so long ago I remember you saying that you were perfect, that you could do no wrong!"

"Maxie, that hurts, I _am_ perfect. Didn't I just spend the last few hours proving it?"

"Oh please!" Max snorted as they walked out the Metro's doors still holding hands and bumping hips.

The sound faded out as they go further down the street and out of range of the surveillance set up on the bank. 

The security guard who was reviewing that night's tapes slowly sat back and let out a deep breath. His hands were shaking. Never in his life had he seen anything so erotic and yet violent at the same time. His body shuddered as he gave his final release. Sleepily, he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and watched as the other Transgenic's that had previously been unconscious got up and left the building.

Nothing had been stolen which meant he had nothing to report, the tape would normally be held for a week and then cycled again on the next Thursday night. Not this time though. This tape was going into his private collection. The guard silently cleaned himself up and dispatched his report to headquarters.

This tape would provide fodder for his many fantasies to come.


End file.
